Filed: Apr. 29, 2010
Latest Update: Feb. 22, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-1479 CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. RAMZI MAALOUF; LAURICE MAALOUF; RITA MAALOUF, Defendants – Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. William Connelly, Magistrate Judge. (8:07-cv-01645-WGC) Submitted: April 16, 2010 Decided: April 29, 2010 Before WILKINSON, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Richard S
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 09-1479 CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. RAMZI MAALOUF; LAURICE MAALOUF; RITA MAALOUF, Defendants – Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. William Connelly, Magistrate Judge. (8:07-cv-01645-WGC) Submitted: April 16, 2010 Decided: April 29, 2010 Before WILKINSON, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Richard S...
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 09-1479
CHASE HOME FINANCE, LLC,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
RAMZI MAALOUF; LAURICE MAALOUF; RITA MAALOUF,
Defendants – Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt. William Connelly, Magistrate Judge.
(8:07-cv-01645-WGC)
Submitted: April 16, 2010 Decided: April 29, 2010
Before WILKINSON, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Richard S. O’Connor, SHURE, PEREZ AND O’CONNOR, Rockville,
Maryland; Joseph J. D’Erasmo, JOSEPH J. D’ERASMO & ASSOCIATES,
LLC, Rockville, Maryland, for Appellants. Matthew P. Previn,
BUCKLEYSANDLER LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Ramzi Maalouf appeals the district court’s judgment 1
finding him jointly and severally liable for debts incurred when
his wife, Rita Maalouf, wrote checks on a home equity line of
credit (HELOC) through Chase Home Finance. 2 He challenges the
district court’s factual determination that he benefitted from
funds received from Chase Home Finance; that he had an
appreciation or knowledge of the benefit; and that he accepted
or retained the benefit under such circumstances as to make it
inequitable for him to retain the benefit without the payment of
its value.
We review the district court’s findings of fact under
the clearly erroneous standard of review, construing the
evidence in the light most favorable to the Appellee. Ente
Nazionale Per L’Energia Electtrica v. Baliwag Navigation, Inc.,
774 F.2d 648, 654 (4th Cir. 1985). Under this deferential
standard of review, this court will not overturn a district
1
The parties consented to the exercise of jurisdiction by a
magistrate judge, as authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) (2006).
2
Although named as a party to the appeal, Laurice Maalouf
is not a proper appellant because the district court found in
her favor. See Suarez Corp. Indus. v. McGraw,
125 F.3d 222, 228
(4th Cir. 1997). Any claims on the part of Rita Maalouf are
waived because they are not addressed in the appellants’ brief.
See Edwards v. City of Goldsboro,
178 F.3d 231, 241 n.6 (4th
Cir. 1999).
2
court’s finding of fact “simply because [we] would have decided
the case differently.” Easley v. Cromartie,
532 U.S. 234, 242
(2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). Rather, this court
will only overturn a lower court’s finding of fact as clearly
erroneous when “‘on the entire evidence,’” this court is “‘left
with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been
committed.’”
Easley, 532 U.S. at 242 (quoting United States v.
United States Gypsum Co.,
333 U.S. 364, 395 (1948)).
We have carefully reviewed the record and conclude
that Ramzi Maalouf has not made the requisite showing. As the
district court concluded, Ramzi was a beneficiary of the funds
drawn on the HELOC by his wife, and the evidence supported a
determination that he knew the funds were drawn from the HELOC,
and not from some other source. On these facts, we find no
clear error in the district court’s holding that Ramzi was
unjustly enriched, and that he was jointly and severally liable
for the disputed funds. See County Comm’rs of Carolina County
v. J. Roland Dashiell & Sons, Inc.,
747 A.2d 600, 607 n.7 (Md.
2000). Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
3